Kelso's Choice: Conflict Management for Children is a powerful and timely tool for students. The program's philosophy is simple: each child is seen as smart enough and strong enough to resolve conflict. Inlike some programs which tout peer mediators who are trained to intervene as conflict mnagers, Kelso's Choice assumes that all children are capable of becoming peacemakers. Developed and refined for nine years, the program reflcts a proven way to:

-Empower young people with the ability to determine their own behavior, encouraging an internal locus of control and appropriate problem ownership. Statements such as "He made me do it!" and "She did it first!" become obsolete as studnets become accountable for their own choices.

-Reduce tattling through a proactive, preventative approach that keeps small problems from escalateing and prevents negative attention-getting behaviors from occurring.

-Systematize expectations of studnet behavior and provide consistency in rules and discipline on a school-wide basis.

-Provide a cognitive structure for discriminating between "small" problems students can resolve and "big" problems that require adult intervention.

-Increase feelings of self-esteem and personal competence as studnets successfully resolve cnflicts, both within the structured lessons and in their own lives.

-Develop an important linkage between home and school as the Kelso's Choice program is shared with parents in the home.

-Give students an important conflict resolution tool they can use when adults are not available or readily accessible. These situations might include riding bikes around the neighborhood, waiting at a bus stop, or playing a game in the far corner of a school field.

For more information, please go to Kelso's Choice's official Website at http://www.kelsoschoice.net